User-Generated Content Exception

Also known informally as Users’ Rights is a second prominent type of copyright exception.

The Canadian Copyright Act explicitly allows the use of copyrighted works in the creation of a new non-commercial work, as long as:

• the original work is property attributed
• the original work does not infringe on some other work’s copyright
• the new work is for non-commercial purposes
• the new work does not adversely affect in the market for the original work

The main goal of this clause in the Copyright Act is to enable ordinary people to create derivative works for non-commercial purposes without any fear of liability. Such works might include:

• photoshopped or annotated images
• homemade remixes of music
• home videos that have background music
• video mashups or fan videos (works that they can share via social media, such as YouTube)

THE USER’S ROLE IN GENERATING THE DERIVATIVE WORK IS EXPECTED TO BE THAT OF A NON-PROFESSIONAL HOBBYIST, RATHER THAN A PROFESSIONAL CREATOR.

The user in this context is expected to be an individual not a corporation! Also, the derivative work is expected to be that of a non-professional hobbyist, rather than a professional creator.